I am loving the chord progressions at the verses. It just oozes nostalgia from my childhood. Also, I'm finally old enough to get some of the lyrical references to that time period like "cross my heart and hope to die" being straight from 2012's One More Night!

I just have a few general concerns. Firstly, Andrew kinda hit the nail on the head mixing wise, as it can be hard at times to hear the drums during the choruses. Maybe this is just me but I think the lyrics at these parts are just a little bit cheesy and generic. More melodies would be nice in general, maybe somehow incorporating this hypothetical B melody into the second chorus to bring some variety to the second half of the song. I also think the chords at the choruses are, like the lyrics, ultimately pretty bland and generic, which was probably done to match the time period (I'm thinking OMFG and LMFAO here) but there comes a point where you dont want to repeat the same mistakes early 2010s music made for the sake of the theme! I already think the verses pay homage enough.

Despite all this, the emotional beats of the song resonated enough to make this song shine, and I'm looking forward to see what you have in store!

I like the cute, 8-bit sound design and catchy melodies at the beginning. The mixing and mastering is good overall - love the heavy compression on the bass at :14, although the drums don’t quite come through the mix as much as I would’ve liked. The vocals are really strong, both delivered and produced well. The lyrics have a nostalgic flair, which is played up really well by the melodies, sound design, and samples of children’s voices. The arrangement is a little generic, and the main melody (both in the vocals and in the synths) could use a tad more variety later on in the piece - maybe even a separate “B” melody as a solo before the breakdown at 1:43 would do the trick. Despite my nitpicks, I really like this piece a lot. It’s danceable, well-produced, and thematically really on-brand with itself, if that makes sense. I’m really curious why you titled it “Captain Obvious,” though - spent a bit too long overthinking that one. :’D Keep it up, PARTYHATZ! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
9.25/10

Just listening to the audio alone, this felt so familiar and yet so new!

Then I read the description and man, you hit that nostalgia nail on the head!

Makes me want boot up my ps3 and play some little big planet.

Awesome stuff! Good luck on the NGADM!

2012 happened to be the best year for me

can i for the love of all that is party; make a music video for this